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Abstract:

A method and apparatus for populating a contact in an address book on a
mobile computing device. In some embodiments, the method includes
receiving data associated with a first entity, processing the data
received to extract contact information associated with the first entity,
populating a user contact entry based on the extracted contact
information, and storing the populated user contact in the address book.

Claims:

1. A computer-implemented method for populating a contact in an address
book on a mobile computing device, the method comprising: receiving data
associated with a first entity; processing the data received to extract
contact information associated with the first entity; populating a user
contact entry based on the extracted contact information; and storing the
populated user contact in the address book.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving data
associated with the first entity includes capturing, using a camera
associated with the mobile computing device, an image of data associated
with the first entity, and wherein the image of the data captured is
processed to extract the contact information associated with the first
entity.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data
associated with the first entity is in the form of plain-text language.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data
associated with the first entity is in the form of a standardized code.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the standardized
code is one of a Quick Response (QR) code or a standard bar code.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the contact
information associated with the first entity is displayed on a sign
proximate to or within the first entity.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the contact
information associated with the first entity is displayed on or proximate
to a product associated with the first entity.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the extracted
contact information associated with the first entity is used as search
criteria in a search engine to obtain further information about the first
entity, and wherein the further information is used to populate the
contact entry in the address book.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving data
associated with the first entity includes receiving data wirelessly
transmitted from the first entity.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the data is
transmitted in a specific protocol recognized by the mobile computing
device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the data is
transmitted to the mobile computing device based on a proximity of the
mobile computing device to the first entity.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an end user of
the mobile computing device is given an option whether to store the
populated user contact in the address book.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first entity
is one of a business establishment, a product display, a second mobile
computing device, or a vehicle.

14. A computer-implemented method for obtaining, by a mobile computing
device, contact information of one or more entities based on a location
of the one or more entities in proximity to the end user device, the
method comprising: determining a set of entities that are within a
wireless data transmission range from the mobile computing device;
sending contact information associated with the set of entities to the
mobile computing device; populating one or more user contact entries
based on the contact information sent; and storing the populated one or
more user contact entries in an address book.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein an end user of
the mobile computing device is giving an option whether to store the
populated one or more user contacts in the address book.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the wireless
data transmission is performed using one of WiFi, BLUETOOTH,
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) and Near Field Communications
(NCF).

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the set of
entities includes at least one of one or more business establishments or
one or more other mobile computing devices.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising:
performing a search operation on a database of geolocation information
associated with a plurality of entities using geolocation information of
the mobile computing device; determining a second set of entities from
the plurality of entities that are within a predetermined distance
threshold from the mobile computing device; sending contact information
associated with the second set of entities to the mobile computing
device; populating one or more user contact entries based on the contact
information sent; and storing the populated one or more user contact
entries in the address book.

19. Apparatus for populating a contact in an address book on a mobile
computing device, the method comprising: a) at least one processor; b) at
least one input device; and c) at least one storage device storing
processor-executable instructions which, when executed by the at least
one processor, performs a method including (1) receiving data associated
with a first entity; (2) processing the data received to extract contact
information associated with the first entity; (3) populating a user
contact entry based on the extracted contact information; and (4) storing
the populated user contact in the address book.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein receiving data associated with the
first entity includes capturing, using a camera associated with the
mobile computing device, an image of data associated with the first
entity, and wherein the image of the data captured is processed to
extract the contact information associated with the first entity.

Description:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the invention

[0002] Embodiments consistent with the present invention generally relate
to methods and apparatus for obtaining and managing contact information
for various entities.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A typical mobile phone user may come into the physical vicinity of
businesses, etc., that the user may wish to store in their contact book,
dial at that moment, and/or may want other information about the
business. To do so, the user may need to go through the cumbersome
process of looking for the establishment's information, and then enter it
into the user's contact book. Furthermore, that information may not be
readily visible on the physical establishment itself (such as on a sign).
If the user happens to possess a smartphone or other mobile computing
device, the user may conduct an Internet search to determine the contact
information for the business. This too, however, may be cumbersome since
the business may be part of a franchise, with multiple locations, or the
search may otherwise pull up any number of off-point results, requiring
parsing through the results to obtain the correct information.

[0005] Thus there is a need for a method and apparatus to provide a better
way of obtaining and managing contact information for various entities
(e.g., businesses, establishments, other people, etc.).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] A method and apparatus for populating a contact in an address book
on a mobile computing device. In some embodiments, the method includes
receiving data associated with a first entity, processing the data
received to extract contact information associated with the first entity,
populating a user contact entry based on the extracted contact
information, and storing the populated user contact in the address book.

[0007] In some embodiments, a method for obtaining, by a mobile computing
device, contact information of an entity based on a location of the
entity in proximity to the end user device includes performing a search
operation of geolocation information associated with a plurality of
entities using geolocation information of the mobile computing device,
determining a set of entities of the plurality of entities that are
within a predetermined distance threshold from the mobile computing
device, sending contact information associated with the set of entities
to the mobile computing device, populating one or more user contact
entries based on the contact information sent, and storing the populated
one or more user contact entries in the address book.

[0008] In some embodiments, an apparatus for populating a contact in an
address book on a mobile computing device includes at least one
processor, at least one input device, and at least one storage device
storing processor executable instructions which, when executed by the at
least one processor, perform a method including receiving data associated
with a first entity, processing the data received to extract contact
information associated with the first entity, populating a user contact
entry based on the extracted contact information, and storing the
populated user contact in the address book.

[0009] Other and further embodiments of the present invention are
described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] So that the manner in which the above recited features of the
present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular
description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by
reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended
drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings
illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore
not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit
to other equally effective embodiments.

[0011]FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a system for populating a contact
in an address book on a mobile computing device, according to one or more
embodiments of the invention;

[0012] FIGS. 2A and 2B depict exemplary Quick Response ("QR") codes and
barcodes used in accordance with embodiments consistent with the present
application;

[0013]FIG. 3 depicts a system for obtaining, by mobile computing device,
contact information of one or more entities based on a location of the
one or more entities in proximity to the mobile computing device,
according to one or more embodiments of the invention;

[0014]FIG. 4 a flow diagram of a method for populating a contact in an
address book on a mobile computing device, according to one or more
embodiments of the invention; and

[0015]FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram of a computer system, according
to one or more embodiments.

[0016] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been
used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to
the figures. The figures are not drawn to scale and may be simplified for
clarity. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment
may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further
recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Embodiments of the present invention include a method and apparatus
for obtaining and managing contact information for various entities. Some
exemplary embodiments consistent with the claimed invention improve upon
standard address book functionality by providing additional flexibility
in the way contacts are obtained, contacted, and managed in the address
book.

[0018] Various embodiments of an apparatus and method for obtaining and
managing contact information for various entities are provided below. In
the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set
forth to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter.
However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed
subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other
instances, methods, apparatuses or systems that would be known by one of
ordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not to obscure
claimed subject matter.

[0019] Some portions of the detailed description which follow are
presented in terms of operations on binary digital signals stored within
a memory of a specific apparatus or special purpose computing device or
platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term
specific apparatus or the like includes a general purpose computer once
it is programmed to perform particular functions pursuant to instructions
from program software. In this context, operations or processing involve
physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, although not
necessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magnetic
signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared or
otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for
reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values,
elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals or the like. It
should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to
be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely
convenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from
the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout this
specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing,"
"computing," "calculating," "determining" or the like refer to actions or
processes of a specific apparatus, such as a special purpose computer or
a similar special purpose electronic computing device. In the context of
this specification, therefore, a special purpose computer or a similar
special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or
transforming signals, typically represented as physical electronic or
magnetic quantities within memories, registers, or other information
storage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the special
purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0020]FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of end user device 102 for obtaining
and managing contact information for various entities using end user
device 102, according to one or more embodiments. The end user device 102
comprises Central Processing Unit (CPU) 104, support circuits 106, a
memory 108, a display device 110, camera 112, geolocation devices 114,
and wireless transmission and receiving devices 116 (e.g., WiFi,
Bluetooth, etc.). The CPU 104 may comprise one or more commercially
available microprocessors or microcontrollers that facilitate data
processing and storage. The various support circuits 106 facilitate the
operation of the CPU 104 and include one or more clock circuits, power
supplies, cache, input/output circuits, and the like. The memory 106
comprises at least one of Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory
(RAM), disk drive storage, optical storage, removable storage and/or the
like. In some embodiments, the display device 110 may be a touch screen
able to accept input from a user's finger or input from a stylus. In some
embodiments, the memory 108 comprises an operating system 120, contact
list configuration settings 122, one or more address books containing
contact information 124, one or more address book management modules 126,
one or more location determination modules 128, and one or more image
processing modules 130. In some embodiments, some or all of the
information and modules described above may be stored remotely on a
remote server (not shown) and retrieved from the remote server by the end
user device 102 when needed.

[0021] The operating system (OS) 120 generally manages various computer
resources (e.g., network resources, file processors, and/or the like).
The operating system 110 is configured to execute operations on one or
more hardware and/or software modules, such as Network Interface Cards
(NICs), hard disks, virtualization layers, firewalls and/or the like.
Examples of the operating system 120 may include, but are not limited to,
Linux, Mac OSX, BSD, Unix, Microsoft Windows, and the like.

[0022] In exemplary embodiments consistent with the present invention, a
user of user device 102 may obtain contact information from one or more
entities via one or more information transfer means 150. In some
embodiments, the one or more entities may include business
establishments, schools, libraries, billboards or other signage, product
displays, other mobile computing devices, vehicles (e.g., a taxi), or any
other type of entity that may have contact information associated with
it.

[0023] In some embodiments, the information transfer means 150 may include
wired and/or wireless data transfer of the contact information. Some
examples of exemplary wireless transmission methods that may be used
include WiFi, BLUETOOTH, Radio-frequency identification (RFID) and Near
Field Communications (NCF). For example, mobile device 140, billboard
142, and business establishment 144 may broadcast contact and other
information via WiFi or BLUETOOTH as the information transfer means 150.
End user device may receive the broadcast information using wireless
RX/TX transfer device 116. The received information may be parsed and
processed via address book management module 126, a contact entry may be
created, and the contact entry may be stored in address book 124. It is
noted that end user device 102 may include more than one address book
management module 126, and more than one address book 124. For example, a
native address book 124 and address book management module 126 may be
used, or, an address book 124 and address book management module 126
associated with some installed application using an API to manipulate
contacts may be used. In some embodiments, the format of the contact
information transferred may be in a predetermined standard
format/protocol recognizable by the end user device. For example,
exemplary formats/protocols used may include a Type-Length-Value (TLV),
XML, JS, VCard, and the like. In some embodiments, before the information
is entered into the address book as a new contact, or add to an existing
contact, the user of end user device 102 may be given an option as to
whether they want to add the contact in the address book.

[0024] In some embodiments, the entity broadcasting their contact
information may do so selectively based on a mobile user's location
(which may be determined using GPS, WiFi triangulations, cell tower ID,
NFC, and the like). For example, when a user attempts to access the
internet within a store, an access point may present a Web page to the
user. The web page can provide contact information that the user could
then save into an address book. In some embodiments, an NFC tag can
simply transmit contact information when a user taps their device on or
near the tag. Similarly, a BLUETOOTH access point can send a contact
information card to a user device when the device's BLUETOOTH is in
discovery mode.

[0025] In some embodiments, the contact information transfer means 150 may
include image data associated with a contact acquired using camera 112.
For example, a user of end user device 102 may take a picture using
camera 112 of the information displayed on billboard 142, or of the name
of business establishment 144 (i.e., "Joe's Bike Shop"). The user of end
user device 102 may scan a Quick Response ("QR") code 202 or a barcode
204 as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B using camera 112. The image data acquired
may be processed using the image processing modules 130 on user device
102. For example, image processing modules 130 may include Optical
Character Recognition (OCR) software to extract information from images
of plain text language, or QR or barcode recognition software to extract
information from QR code 202 or barcode 204. A contact entry may be
created using the extracted information. In some instances, however, the
information extracted may be used as search criteria, along with location
coordinates of the user device, to lookup the contact information of the
entity in question. The result of the search could then be used to create
a contact entry to be stored in address book 124 or to directly
contact/dial the entity if applicable. For example, if a user passes
billboard 142 and is interested in contacting attorney John Smith, the
user may take a picture of John Smith's information displayed on
billboard 142. The image data would be processed and OCR'd, for example,
to extract the name, "John Smith" and phone number, "201-555-1212." A
contact entry would be created and the end user device could contact John
Smith directly at that time and/or store the contact entry in the address
book depending on the user's preference/feedback.

[0026] In some embodiments, the image data acquired may be sent to a
remote cloud based server for processing, and a completed contact entry
may be sent to end user device 102. As discussed above, before the
information is entered into the address book as a new contact, the user
of end user device 102 may be given an option as to whether they want to
add the contact in the address book. In some embodiments, feedback from
the user regarding whether the user added the contact to the address book
is provided back to the remote cloud based server. The server may then
use that feedback to determine if the contact information should be sent
for similar queries by other devices. In addition, the user of end user
device 102 may be given an option as to whether they want to contact the
entity at that time.

[0027]FIG. 3 depicts system 300 that includes a database 304 of
information including GPS information associated with various entities
310 may be accessible to users of user device A 306 and user device B 308
via network 302. The information in database 304 may be continually
updated with geolocation information about the various entities 310. In
some embodiments, a user may execute a query for information associated
with one or more entities 310 on a user device 306, 308. The query may
include geolocation information (e.g., GPS coordinates and the like)
associated with the request. A list of businesses that fall within a
certain distance of user device 306, 308 may be provided to the users of
user device 306, 308. The list of business may be filtered or ordered
based on user-specific information (e.g., age, gender, and the like). One
or more of the list of businesses returned to the user may by auto-dialed
in response to query. A user may activate said search of business using a
voice command, a press of a button, or a search term entered in a text
input box via a user interface of the end user device 306, 308. In some
embodiments, the user would be given the option to populate the address
book with one or more businesses listed.

[0028] Further with respect to FIG. 3, system 300 may also store and
update geolocation information in database 304 for a plurality of mobile
devices used by a plurality of users. In some embodiments, system 300 may
provide a list of registered contacts along with their associated
information that fall within a predetermined distance to a user device.
For example, user device A 306 may be notified that it is in the vicinity
of user device B 308 based on the geolocation information of each device
stored in database 304. The user of user device A 306 will be given the
choice whether to add a contact associated with user device B into his
address book. In some embodiments, users will have a choice to turn
on/off privacy settings with respect to disclosing their location at all,
or only to certain classes of other users.

[0029]FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of a method 400 for obtaining and
managing contact information for various entities, according to one or
more embodiments of the invention. The method 400 starts at 402, and
generally proceeds to 404.

[0030] At 404, data associated with an entity is received. As discussed
above, the data associated with the entity may be received via various
information transfer means 150. For example, in some embodiments,
receiving the data associated with the entity includes capturing, using a
camera such as 112, an image of data associated with the entity. In other
embodiments, the data associated with the entity may be wirelessly
transmitted from the entity.

[0031] At 406, the data received may be processed to extract the contact
information associated with the entity. At 408, a determination is made
whether more information about the entity is required. That is, the
extracted information may contain ambiguous or incomplete data regarding
the entity. For example, if the business establishment is part of a chain
of similarly named stores, or a phone number is not part of the extracted
data, a search operation using some of the extracted data would be
conducted at 410 to obtain additional contact information. At 412, the
extracted information and/or the additional search information would be
used to automatically populate a user contact entry. The user would be
given an option whether to store the contact, update the contact
information, and or add additional information prior to storing the
contact. At 414, the populated user contact would be stored in the
address book.

[0032] Returning to 408, if enough contact information was extracted to
sufficiently populate the contact entry, the method would proceed to 412
directly without performing the search operation to determined additional
contact information at 410. The method 400 would proceed to 414 to store
the populated user contact in the address book. The method 400 then ends
at step 416.

[0033] The embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as
methods, apparatus, electronic devices, and/or computer program products.
Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in
hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software,
micro-code, and the like), which may be generally referred to herein as a
"circuit" or "module". Furthermore, the present invention may take the
form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or
computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or
computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in
connection with an instruction execution system. In the context of this
document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium
that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program
for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system,
apparatus, or device. These computer program instructions may also be
stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a
computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a
particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer
usable or computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture
including instructions that implement the function specified in the
flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

[0034] The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example
but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,
infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus or device. More specific
examples (a non exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium include
the following: hard disks, optical storage devices, magnetic storage
devices, an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable
computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory
(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory),
an optical fiber, and a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM).

[0035] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present
invention may be written in an object oriented programming language, such
as Java®, Smalltalk or C++, and the like. However, the computer
program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may
also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as
the "C" programming language and/or any other lower level assembler
languages. It will be further appreciated that the functionality of any
or all of the program modules may also be implemented using discrete
hardware components, one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits
(ASICs), or programmed Digital Signal Processors or microcontrollers.

[0036] The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been
described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the
illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to
limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications
and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The
embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the
principles of the present disclosure and its practical applications, to
thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention
and various embodiments with various modifications as may be suited to
the particular use contemplated.

[0037]FIG. 5 depicts a computer system 500 that can be utilized in
various embodiments of the present invention to implement the computer
and/or the display, according to one or more embodiments.

[0038] Various embodiments of method and apparatus for organizing,
displaying and accessing contacts in a contact list, as described herein,
may be executed on one or more computer systems, which may interact with
various other devices. One such computer system is computer system 500
illustrated by FIG. 5, which may in various embodiments implement any of
the elements or functionality illustrated in FIGS. 1-7. In various
embodiments, computer system 500 may be configured to implement methods
described above. The computer system 500 may be used to implement any
other system, device, element, functionality or method of the
above-described embodiments. In the illustrated embodiments, computer
system 500 may be configured to implement method 400 as
processor-executable executable program instructions 522 (e.g., program
instructions executable by processor(s) 510) in various embodiments.

[0039] In the illustrated embodiment, computer system 500 includes one or
more processors 510a-510n coupled to a system memory 520 via an
input/output (I/O) interface 530. Computer system 500 further includes a
network interface 540 coupled to I/O interface 530, and one or more
input/output devices 550, such as cursor control device 560, keyboard
570, and display(s) 580. In various embodiments, any of the components
may be utilized by the system to receive user input described above. In
various embodiments, a user interface may be generated and displayed on
display 580. In some cases, it is contemplated that embodiments may be
implemented using a single instance of computer system 500, while in
other embodiments multiple such systems, or multiple nodes making up
computer system 500, may be configured to host different portions or
instances of various embodiments. For example, in one embodiment some
elements may be implemented via one or more nodes of computer system 500
that are distinct from those nodes implementing other elements. In
another example, multiple nodes may implement computer system 500 in a
distributed manner.

[0040] In different embodiments, computer system 500 may be any of various
types of devices, including, but not limited to, a personal computer
system, desktop computer, laptop, notebook, or netbook computer,
mainframe computer system, handheld computer, workstation, network
computer, a camera, a set top box, a mobile device, a consumer device,
video game console, handheld video game device, application server,
storage device, a peripheral device such as a switch, modem, router, or
in general any type of computing or electronic device.

[0041] In various embodiments, computer system 500 may be a uniprocessor
system including one processor 510, or a multiprocessor system including
several processors 510 (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitable
number). Processors 510 may be any suitable processor capable of
executing instructions. For example, in various embodiments processors
510 may be general-purpose or embedded processors implementing any of a
variety of instruction set architectures (ISAs). In multiprocessor
systems, each of processors 510 may commonly, but not necessarily,
implement the same ISA.

[0042] System memory 520 may be configured to store program instructions
522 and/or data 532 accessible by processor 510. In various embodiments,
system memory 520 may be implemented using any suitable memory
technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM), synchronous
dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of
memory. In the illustrated embodiment, program instructions and data
implementing any of the elements of the embodiments described above may
be stored within system memory 520. In other embodiments, program
instructions and/or data may be received, sent or stored upon different
types of computer-accessible media or on similar media separate from
system memory 520 or computer system 500.

[0043] In one embodiment, I/O interface 530 may be configured to
coordinate I/O traffic between processor 510, system memory 520, and any
peripheral devices in the device, including network interface 540 or
other peripheral interfaces, such as input/output devices 550. In some
embodiments, I/O interface 530 may perform any necessary protocol, timing
or other data transformations to convert data signals from one component
(e.g., system memory 520) into a format suitable for use by another
component (e.g., processor 510). In some embodiments, I/O interface 530
may include support for devices attached through various types of
peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral Component
Interconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB)
standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/O interface
530 may be split into two or more separate components, such as a north
bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in some embodiments some or
all of the functionality of I/O interface 530, such as an interface to
system memory 520, may be incorporated directly into processor 510.

[0044] Network interface 540 may be configured to allow data to be
exchanged between computer system 500 and other devices attached to a
network (e.g., network 590), such as one or more external systems or
between nodes of computer system 500. In various embodiments, network 590
may include one or more networks including but not limited to Local Area
Networks (LANs) (e.g., an Ethernet or corporate network), Wide Area
Networks (WANs) (e.g., the Internet), wireless data networks, some other
electronic data network, or some combination thereof. In various
embodiments, network interface 540 may support communication via wired or
wireless general data networks, such as any suitable type of Ethernet
network, for example; via telecommunications/telephony networks such as
analog voice networks or digital fiber communications networks; via
storage area networks such as Fiber Channel SANs, or via any other
suitable type of network and/or protocol.

[0045] Input/output devices 550 may, in some embodiments, include one or
more display terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices,
voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable for
entering or accessing data by one or more computer systems 500. Multiple
input/output devices 550 may be present in computer system 500 or may be
distributed on various nodes of computer system 500. In some embodiments,
similar input/output devices may be separate from computer system 500 and
may interact with one or more nodes of computer system 500 through a
wired or wireless connection, such as over network interface 540.

[0046] In some embodiments, the illustrated computer system may implement
any of the methods described above, such as the methods illustrated by
the flowcharts of FIG. 3. In other embodiments, different elements and
data may be included.

[0047] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer system 500
is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of
embodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may include
any combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicated
functions of various embodiments, including computers, network devices,
Internet appliances, PDAs, wireless phones, pagers, and the like.
Computer system 500 may also be connected to other devices that are not
illustrated, or instead may operate as a stand-alone system. In addition,
the functionality provided by the illustrated components may in some
embodiments be combined in fewer components or distributed in additional
components. Similarly, in some embodiments, the functionality of some of
the illustrated components may not be provided and/or other additional
functionality may be available.

[0048] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various
items are illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while being
used, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memory
and other storage devices for purposes of memory management and data
integrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of the
software components may execute in memory on another device and
communicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computer
communication. Some or all of the system components or data structures
may also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on a
computer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read by an
appropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. In some
embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible medium separate
from computer system 500 may be transmitted to computer system 500 via
transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or
digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as a network
and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments may further include
receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or data implemented in
accordance with the foregoing description upon a computer-accessible
medium or via a communication medium. In general, a computer-accessible
medium may include a storage medium or memory medium such as magnetic or
optical media, e.g., disk or DVD/CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatile media
such as RAM (e.g., SDRAM, DDR, RDRAM, SRAM, and the like), ROM, and the
like.

[0049] The methods described herein may be implemented in software,
hardware, or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In
addition, the order of methods may be changed, and various elements may
be added, reordered, combined, omitted or otherwise modified. All
examples described herein are presented in a non-limiting manner. Various
modifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a person
skilled in the art having benefit of this disclosure. Realizations in
accordance with embodiments have been described in the context of
particular embodiments. These embodiments are meant to be illustrative
and not limiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and
improvements are possible. Accordingly, plural instances may be provided
for components described herein as a single instance. Boundaries between
various components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,
and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specific
illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are
envisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow. Finally,
structures and functionality presented as discrete components in the
example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or
component. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and
improvements may fall within the scope of embodiments as defined in the
claims that follow.

[0050] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present
invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised
without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is
determined by the claims that follow.